


Worst Case Scenario

by TheDisneyOutsider



Series: Comfortember 2020 [4]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Anxiety, Field Trip, Hurt/Comfort, Panic Attacks, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker is a Mess, Spiralling, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Worst-Case Scenario Challenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-05
Updated: 2020-11-05
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:54:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27393820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDisneyOutsider/pseuds/TheDisneyOutsider
Summary: “Wow, kid, not going to lie, I wasn’t expecting all that...”“You know what you’re getting into when you encourage a game of ‘Worst Case Scenario’, Mr. Stark,” Peter pointed out.The man nodded seriously, “You’re right, you’re right. Okay, well let’s break this down worry by worry."Comfortember, Day 4: Anxiety
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: Comfortember 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1995802
Comments: 21
Kudos: 278
Collections: Comfortember 2020





	Worst Case Scenario

**Author's Note:**

> Are we all still hanging in with this challenge? What, it's only day four!? 😂 It's all good. I've loved all the feedback so far!
> 
> Now, let's get on to Peter and Tony playing one of my favourite games. I'm really good at it too!! 😂
> 
> Day 4 of Comfortember: Anxiety

Tony had been tinkering in his lab for the better part of the day. It was Tuesday aka ‘internship day’ for Peter and Tony liked to get all his work done before the kid got there in order to be able to devote all his attention to the ‘fun’ projects the two liked to do together.

He had been so caught up in his work, in fact, that he hadn’t even registered FRIDAY’s announcement of Peter’s arrival, or the boy himself when he slunk into the lab and right over to Tony’s station with a huge pout forming on his face.

Tony frowned when he finally noticed him, “What’s with the face, kiddo?”

“How could you approve a field trip for my school to visit the tower!?” Peter accused, seemingly prepared to explode his feelings all over his mentor.

Tony raised an eyebrow, “Excuse me?”

Peter sighed, collapsing into the chair opposite Tony’s desk, “My class is having a field trip to the _ tower _ on Friday, aka here, aka the place I spend half my time and don’t want people sticking their nosy noses into!”

“Nosy noses?” Tony smirked but was met with a glare, “Okay, well, first thing, I do not approve those types of things Mr. Parker, so you’re going to have to chew someone else out for that one. Second, why is this such a big deal for you? You know we’ll keep your secret safe, right?”

The boy threw his head back, “I know it’s just... I don’t know.”

“It’s obviously bugging you enough to be this worked up over it, kid. What’s the problem?” Tony squeezed the teen’s shoulder.

“Everything,” he tapped nervously on his knee now.

“Alright, ‘Worst Case Scenario’, we’re playing, right now, go.”

Peter squeezed his eyes shut. They’d played this game a lot and Peter was very good at it. Sometimes so good, in fact, that he left Tony Stark speechless from some of the wild ideas he managed to let spill out during a round.

Taking a deep breath, he started, “People are going to tell me I’m lying about my internship.”

Tony nodded, “Okay, well—”

“They’re going to think I’m lying about my internship and then we’re going to get there and FRIDAY’s going to greet me like she knows me and then they’re going to say I somehow hacked into the system and I’ll get in trouble with the school, or we’ll keep going and we’ll bump into you somehow along the way and you’ll embarrass me and then people will really know my internship is real, only it won’t make things better, it will make it worse because then people are going to question why someone like you would bother with someone like me and a whole bunch of rumours will start about me being your secret kid, or something completely inappropriate that’s going to make you look bad, and school’s going to become even more of a nightmare for me, and maybe somehow they’ll see something of Spider-Man’s lying around by accident and someone will put two and two together and realize I’m Spider-Man on top of your secret son and my identity will be out and I’ll never have a normal life again.”

Tony stared wide-eyed for a full minute after Peter finished his one breath rant. Multiple times in that one minute he opened his mouth, only to close it again with no words coming out. Finally, he shook his head slightly and let out a low chuckle, “Wow, kid, not going to lie, I wasn’t expecting all that...”

“You know what you’re getting into when you encourage a game of ‘Worst Case Scenario’, Mr. Stark,” Peter pointed out.

The man nodded seriously, “You’re right, you’re right. Okay, well let’s break this down worry by worry. Um, first of all, FRIDAY’s not going to greet you like that when you’re with a group, Pete, I programmed her to know the difference. Your group will most likely not even meet FRIDAY.”

“Really?” Peter breathed out, “I thought she ran the whole tower?”

“She does, but most people don’t need to physically talk to her. She does her job quietly for almost everyone besides us. As for me embarrassing you, are you serious? Why would I ever actively go out of my way to make your life at school harder?”

Peter shrugged, cheeks turning mildly pink recalling his accusation.

“If I bump into your group, which I doubt will happen, I promise not to do more than give a brief confirmation that I’m aware of your existence as our youngest intern, nothing more, nothing less, sound good?”

“That sounds great,” Peter agreed, anxiety visibly deflating.

“As far as Spider-Man’s identity, I already promised that we won’t be letting anything slip. Your class won’t be permitted on the higher floors, so our private lab and penthouse are most definitely off-limits. They won’t see anything, kid.”

Peter nodded once, taking in a large breath and letting it out slowly.

“You feel better now?” the older man asked, eyeing the kid for any further signs of anxiety.

“I think so,” Peter confirmed, “Sorry when the teacher announced the trip, I just freaked out. This place is like... home, and the thought of my classmates walking around my home was scary.”

Tony smiled at the teen’s admission of the tower feeling like home, feeling proud of himself for giving the boy another place he deemed ‘safe’.

“It absolutely makes sense, buddy. Anxiety can be mean, especially when it starts making us imagine all sorts of ridiculous scenarios. But, I promise, this will always be a safe place for you, okay?”

Peter nodded, visibly relaxing in his chair, “Thanks, Tony. Sorry for being ridiculous.”

“Nonsense,” the man shook his head, opening his arms for a hug, the kid gladly accepting the invitation, “Now, how about you get May to write you a note for Friday allowing you to stay at your internship after the tour is over? We can start lab time early and then order a ton of junk food and get started on that Harry Potter movie marathon you’ve been talking about, sound good?”

There was that Peter smile Tony loved so much, “Yes!! That would be awesome, I can’t wait!”

And just like that, the day that Peter was dreading for hours was suddenly one he was counting down the days until. Tony was proud of himself for bringing that light back into his kid’s eyes.

**Author's Note:**

> Anyone else really good at the Worst Case scenario game?? 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed, comment your lovely thoughts if you would be so kind!!


End file.
